Twenty-odd figures materialized out of thin air beside Zhong Shenxiu. A closer look revealed them to be the very soldiers Zhong Shenxiu had previously confined within his magic ring! But what truly terrified Bier was that these soldiers possessed the same glowing green eyes and long, sharp nails as the undead monstrosity he had faced earlier.
Indeed, these were zombies!
Bier, who couldn't handle even one of them previously, now faced over twenty. His current state of mind was easily imaginable! "Y-you," Bier stammered, backing away repeatedly, unable to form a coherent sentence.
Zhong Shenxiu offered a slight smile. "Feeling a sense of familiarity?"
At this moment, sweat was raining from Bier's face onto the ground, and a chilling wind raked down his back. How he wished it were all a dream, but reality was always this cruel!
Just as Bier was floundering in indecision, a large contingent of soldiers rushed toward the scene, including several expert swordsmen and mages. Yet, they were all stunned speechless by what they witnessed!
The National Advisor was about to be defeated? How, how was this possible?
In their eyes, Bier was the embodiment of invincibility; every battle he fought was a swift execution. Not only was he never wounded, but even a scratch was rarely seen! Moreover, they knew Bier commanded several absurdly powerful demon insects, each capable of rivaling a legendary dragon. How could things have devolved to this point?
"Kill them for me!" Bier roared, grasping at this last straw of hope, then channeled the meager strength remaining in his body and fled rapidly in one direction.
He knew these soldiers were no match for Zhong Shenxiu. He hadn't expected them to kill Zhong Shenxiu; he merely hoped they could buy him some time to escape. For him now, every extra second meant a greater chance of survival!
Before the soldiers could react, Zhong Shenxiu’s figure vanished from his spot. When he reappeared, he was standing a dozen meters directly in front of Bier!
Bier hadn't anticipated Zhong Shenxiu’s speed reaching such a terrifying level. With no time to think, he tapped his toe, instantly changing direction. With a flash of will, he unleashed all the demon insects he possessed.
He intended to sacrifice his pawns to save his general, using these insects to buy himself time!
But he had still severely underestimated Zhong Shenxiu's power. Almost immediately after releasing the insects, they fizzled out and evaporated, so fast that no one even clearly saw what the insects looked like!
"And where exactly do you think you're going?" Zhong Shenxiu's indifferent voice sounded again. At that same moment, he had once more positioned himself directly in Bier's path!
Bier nearly collapsed from fright. Had he not reacted swiftly, he would have collided directly with Zhong Shenxiu. He fully believed that if that impact had occurred, he would have been the unfortunate one!
"Do you enjoy running so much?" A cold, sinister smile suddenly curved Zhong Shenxiu's lips. As his words fell, a heavy thud echoed—Bier had collapsed flat onto the ground!
Bier felt as if every bone in his body was about to shatter. His entire frame felt burdened by a massive stone weighing thousands of pounds, crushing him so completely he couldn't move an inch!
"Grav-Gravity Spell," Bier gasped out those few words through clenched teeth, his face filled with horror and disbelief.
To be crushed to this degree by someone so powerful—just how many times gravity was this spell exerting? When had the Gravity Spell become such a lethal technique?
"Well, well, why aren't you running anymore?" Zhong Shenxiu looked down at the pinned Bier with utter arrogance, his eyes devoid of any sympathy!
"Wh-why is there someone like you?"
Bier clenched his jaw, blood trickling down his lips. Fortunately, his foresight had kicked in earlier, allowing him to staunch the bleeding from his severed arm; otherwise, even if Zhong Shenxiu hadn't acted further, he would have bled out and perished!
"My existence is specifically tailored to deal with people exactly like you!" Zhong Shenxiu's signature, wicked grin reappeared. Challenging him in front of a 'genius' was akin to deliberately running into a wall—it would only result in less pain if one simply gave up sooner!
"I... I refuse to yield!" Bier roared out with the last of his strength, forcing his body upward. But without his arms, this effort was meaningless!
Why did such a monster exist in this world? Why did they appear one after another just as his glorious ascent began? Why? Why was this happening? Wasn't he supposed to be the strongest person in this world? Why did he now possess no power to resist? What was the reason?
Bier seemed on the verge of madness. The successive blows had stripped him of his reason!
"Oh, you still have quite some spirit!"
As Zhong Shenxiu spoke, a massive sound erupted. The head Bier had just managed to lift slammed heavily onto the stone floor, accompanied by the distinct sound of cracking bones. Zhong Shenxiu had increased the gravity, the effect of which was to directly crush Bier’s sternum!
Gazing down at the half-dead Bier, Zhong Shenxiu’s face showed a flicker of disappointment. He had expected to play with his prey a little longer, but he was proving too fragile to endure. How boring!
Let the game end here. From now on, this place will become a true hell!
With a flicker of Zhong Shenxiu's will, the zombies waiting on standby charged forward instantly, moving as fast as meteors.
The remaining soldiers still showed no reaction. The sequence of events had overloaded their cognitive functions; their minds had effectively crashed. Especially the sight of Bier pinned to the ground made them feel that the world had fundamentally changed—it had become far too insane!
"Ah, what are... what are they doing?" A soldier's voice suddenly broke the silence, laced with endless terror!
And at that moment, Bier’s piercing scream ripped through the air—it was utterly agonizing!
"They... they are actually..."
The scene before them paralyzed every soldier who had faced death several times on the battlefield. Their faces were ashen, their lips trembling uncontrollably, and their bodies instinctively retreated backward!
In that moment, they had not an ounce of fighting spirit left! A terror originating deep within their souls was relentlessly draining their courage and strength!
It was too horrific, truly too terrifying!
What exactly were they witnessing? It was nothing less than a scene of cannibalism, raw and alive! Watching those zombies chew on bloody chunks of flesh, even the boldest soldiers were helpless now!
In mere moments, Bier had completely vanished from the world, and his soul, like those of the other soldiers, was absorbed by Zhong Shenxiu.
Zhong Shenxiu had come fueled by rage. He intended to destroy not only their physical bodies but also capture their souls. These souls could expedite the cultivation of Paghi’s "Ghost Cultivation" technique, serving as a form of payment for the debts they owed!
When those twenty-odd zombies turned their still-hungry gazes toward the remaining soldiers, someone finally snapped back to reality! Chaos erupted instantly; people scattered and fled, cries of alarm rising one after another.
Zhong Shenxiu did not stop them, instead watching their panicked flight with evident excitement. Only when the area was completely empty did Zhong Shenxiu decide to get serious!
This farce had to conclude. After dealing with this, he had smaller nations to visit!
The sun rose and set; twilight descended, signaling the passing of another day!
Inside the Winter Moon Empire's Imperial Palace, Patrick, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, anxiously requested an audience with Alexander.
"Is there news from the Cunbujiu Kingdom again?" Alexander asked, cutting straight to the point.
This was a tense period. No one knew if the Cunbujiu Kingdom would target them next, so Alexander was exceptionally cautious, demanding daily reports on the Cunbujiu Kingdom and continuously reinforcing his border garrisons! Furthermore, he had dispatched recruiters to major Magic and Martial Arts Academies to gather new blood, all in preparation for this crisis!
"Your Majesty, news has just arrived—the Cunbujiu Kingdom has been annihilated!" Patrick reported, his voice trembling slightly. He had been so shocked upon hearing the news that he had been speechless for a long time!
"W-what did you say?" Alexander shot up from his seat, staring intensely at Patrick. "The Cunbujiu Kingdom has been destroyed? We just received word that their Imperial Palace has become a bottomless black hole; not a single official or soldier survived."
"No... no one survived?" Alexander sucked in a sharp breath.
He could fully grasp the sheer horror of that. Although the Cunbujiu Kingdom was a small nation, its officials and soldiers were scattered and difficult to account for; achieving such total annihilation seemed impossible. Moreover, everything was fine just yesterday; how could it all be gone in a single day?
"Your Majesty, centered around that black hole, everything surrounding it is collapsing at an incredible speed. The residents of the Cunbujiu Kingdom are in mass panic, migrating outward in droves. In a short time, the entire Cunbujiu Kingdom will become a ghost city!" Patrick added urgently.
"How could this happen? How could this happen?" Alexander grabbed Patrick's shoulder, demanding, "Have you determined which nation is responsible?"
"No! This does not appear to be the work of another nation; no large-scale military invasion of the Cunbujiu Kingdom was detected. Furthermore, eyewitnesses claim they only saw a black pillar surge toward the sky, followed by the earth shaking violently," Patrick relayed everything without omitting a single detail.
After a brief silence, Patrick delivered another piece of news that shocked Alexander: aside from the minor nation of the Brilliant Kingdom, which only lost a few officers and soldiers, every other small nation previously occupied by the Cunbujiu Kingdom had also been successively destroyed!
Heavens above, what was happening to this world? Was utter chaos about to descend upon the realm?!